This gala event will honour editors who have made significant contributions over the past year, including the recipients of the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence, the Claudette Upton Scholarship, the President’s Award and the Oops Awards.

Attendees will also be treated to writer and editor Mark Abley and his presentation, "Madly Off in All Directions."

Many people worry that the English language is going a little berserk. With all its Internet terminology, regional variations, neologisms, slang words, initialisms and other changes, do even the most punctilious editors have to accept that chaos is inevitable? Join Mark for this entertaining and informative exploration of language.

Mark Abley is a poet, a newspaper columnist and an award-winning author. Born in England, he grew up in northern Ontario, southern Alberta and central Saskatchewan. He studied literature at the University of Saskatchewan and, after winning a Rhodes Scholarship, at St. John’s College, Oxford. Aspiring to be a poet, he began work as a freelance writer and has since published several books, articles and reviews. His newest books are Camp Fossil Eyes: Digging for the Origins of Words and The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches From the Future of English.

Aside from his own writing, Mark has extensive experience in editing and teaching. Many writers still recall the years when he edited the book-review pages of the Montreal Gazette. He has also edited special Canadian issues of Verse (an American poetry journal) and Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas. In 2004, Canadian Geographic asked him to edit much of the copy in their 75th anniversary issue, “Canada: Global Citizen.” Mark is also the editor of several books, including Stories From the Ice Storm (1999) and When Earth Leaps Up (posthumous poems by Anne Szumigalski, 2006).

Not to be outshone, the food at the awards banquet will also be ready for the red carpet. ITHQ has a reputation for providing leading-edge, delicious cuisine—even by the high standards set for excellent dining in Montreal!

ITHQ, which is located a short walk away from the Grande Bibliothèque, is a government-operated agency and educational campus devoted to training and research in the hotel, tourism and food service industries. Considered a leader in North America, ITHQ features a 42-room training hotel, upscale restaurant, multiple dining rooms and state-of-the-art classrooms and facilities.

Banquet ticket sales have been especially brisk this year, so make sure you get your ticket soon. Banquet tickets are $75 and include an appetizer, a main course, a glass of wine with dinner, dessert and coffee or tea. There will be a cash bar reception prior to the banquet, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Dinner begins at 7 p.m.